15 hike in motoring fines planned

Drivers may be fined £15 more for motoring offences in order to finance a Government scheme supporting victims of crime, it has been revealed.Ê

Those convicted of crime in court have had to pay the surcharge on top of their fines since 2007, but now the Government intends to apply it to fixed penalty notices and on-the-spot fines.

Plans for the charge would see the current speeding fine jump from £60 to £75, and justice minister Claire Ward said: "We intend to add the surcharge to other disposals as soon as it becomes feasible to do so."

Other offences covered by the surcharge would be drivers caught not wearing a seatbelt, using a mobile phone or given a parking ticket, while non-motoring crimes such as being drunk and disorderly or drawing graffiti would also be hit.

RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "You will have a hard job convincing motorists this is anything other than a stealth tax to shore up a creaking system strapped for cash.

"Motorists need to obey the rules of the road but they also have to believe what they get penalised for committing relatively minor offences is fair, and not just some arbitrary figure."